February 26, 2010
Scholarship tax credit survives education funding debate, partisan maneuvering
By BRIGID CURTIS AYER ( Indiana Catholic Conference)
With dwindling state revenues, funding cuts hit school corporations hard, causing some to do what Department of Education officials told them to do “only as a last resort” — lay off teachers.
Through a series of maneuvers in the Indiana house and senate, lawmakers have been working to change state laws so school corporations could pay teachers from funds on hand but previously unavailable for such use.
For example, instead of requiring that all the money in a capital projects fund be used for building-related expenses, school corporations might be able to use some of the building or construction money for teacher salaries and prevent additional teacher layoffs.
There were, however, disagreements over pay raises and other details.
As introduced, House Bill 1367, authored by Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, would have allowed school corporations to use their capital projects funding to make up the shortfall provided teachers received no pay raise. However it excluded the automatic incremental pay raise teachers have in their contracts. The incremental raise has been one of the major sticking points in the negotiations.
House Bill 1367 also included a delay in the scholarship tax credit – which had been approved by the legislature and signed by the governor last year. That measure had led to the formation of a Scholarship Granting Organization for accredited non-public schools in the 12 counties making up the Diocese of Evansville. Throughout the state, $2.5 million worth of tax credits could provide $5 million worth of scholarships to qualified students.
It appeared that “the scholarship tax credit which saves the state money and will offer hundreds of children better educational opportunities” had “become a political football in the education funding debate,” said Glenn Tebbe, executive director of the Indiana Catholic Conference.
But the legislative process was far from over.
As introduced, Senate Bill 309, authored by Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, allows school corporations to transfer funds from their school corporation budgets, but stipulated a pay freeze for teachers including the incremental raise. The Senate version also placed stricter limits on the amounts of funding shifts and prohibits funding transfer from the debt service fund.
When House Bill 1367 moved to the Senate, the Republicans removed all the contents of the bill including the scholarship tax credit delay and added their version of the education funding solution, the contents of Senate Bill 309 and Senate Bill 258 requiring reading proficiency standards.
In the House, two members of the House Education Committee, Rep. David Cheatham, D-North Vernon, and Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, hammered out a bipartisan amendment to attach to Senate Bill 309, which was now in the House Education Committee. The compromise amendment prevented teacher layoffs and instituted a one-year pay freeze.
Rep. Behning said, “The single most important thing in the classroom for the success of Hoosier children is a highly qualified, dedicated teacher. Our goal is to keep these teachers on the job and that’s what my compromise amendment did.”
However, when Rep. Porter, House Education Committee chairman, realized Senate Republicans had stripped his bill in the Senate, he offered a surprise amendment to reinsert the contents of House Bill 1367 into Senate Bill 309. The Democrats who hold a slim majority on the committee, voted in support of Rep. Porter’s amendment and it passed.
That action was “upsetting and surprising,” said the ICC’s Tebbe, since it came after House Republicans and House Democrats had worked out a compromise. The delay in the scholarship tax credit “really threw a wrench into the whole education funding debate.”
But the process was not finished. Shortly after Rep. Porter’s amendment passed the House Education Committee, his amendment was challenged by House Republicans. Rep. Porter’s failure to give proper notification on his amendment violated the House Majority rules. As a result, House Speaker Rep. B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, ordered another hearing on Senate Bill 309.
During that hearing, on Feb. 22, Rep. Porter withdrew the amendment he had offered, and the measure passed the committee on a bipartisan 9-3 vote.
(Related story: What’s happening at the Statehouse: Conference committee negotiations)